The Hawaiian Electric Companies today launched Twitter accounts for its utility companies: Hawaiian Electric Company on Oahu at @HwnElectric, Maui Electric Company at @MauiElectric, and Hawaii Electric Light Company on the Big Island at @HIElectricLight.

But the main focus for the Hawaiian Electric account will be tweeting notifications of major outages affecting Oahu customers. This will be done daily, from 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., with real-time Twitter updates during emergency and crisis situations.

Hawaiian Electric notes that while its Twitter outage notifications provide updates on known outages, Oahu residents should continue to call Hawaiian Electric’s 24/7 Trouble Line to report all outages: 1-855-304-1212. Reporting outages via the Trouble Line, the company says, ensures that Hawaiian Electric crews have the information they need to restore power to the affected areas safely and as quickly as possible.

And for customer service matters, such as billing questions, Oahu residents continue to contact Hawaiian Electric’s Customer Service center at (808) 548-7311, Mondays through Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Twitter is neither the first nor last social network for the Hawaiian Electric Companies. They can also be found on Flickr, LinkedIn, and YouTube.